Combination lock



-L. E. SHEETS. COMBINATION LOCK.

- APPUCATION FILED IULYJ, 1920.

1,418,176 Patented May 30, 1922 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

INVENTOR.

ljleeis AII'TORNEY.

L. E. SHEETS. COMBINATION L OCK. APPLlCATlON FILED JULY 1920.

1,418, 176. Pat hted May 30,1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR.

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Patented May 30, 1922.

ATTORNEY.

L. E. SHEETS.

COMBINATION LOCK.

APPLICATION FILED JULY]. 1920,

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COMBINATION LOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 30, 1922.

Application filed July 1, 1920. Serial No. 393,267.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LENARD EARL SHnnTs, a cltizen of the United States, residing at Campo, in the county of Baca and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combination Locks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

An object of the invention is to provide a comparatively simple and efiective combination lock wherein the combination may readily be changed at the will of the operator, whereby the number of units in the co mbina-. tion may be varied as desired and wherein the number of difierent combinations which may be produced is practically unlimited, th mechanism of the lock itself being protected from strain when the bolt is either in its looking or unlocked position to guard against the disarrangement of the parts by applying pressure directly to the bolt in an effort to forcibly change its position; and with these objects in view, the invention consists in a construction and combination of parts of which a preferred embodiment is shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figural is a face or front view of the lock.

Figure 2 is a rear view with the rear wall of the casing omitted.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken in the plane of the lock spindle.

Figure, 4- is a detail view of two of the tumblers.

Figure 5 is a detail sectional view showing the arrangement in operative position of one of the tumbler retaining elements.

Figure, 6 is a detail. view of one of the tumbler retaining elements.

Figure 7 is a similar view of the key.

Figure 8 is a similar view of one of the tumbler, a tuating springsj Figure 9 is a diagrammatical view illustrating a series of tumblers and retainers.

The locking bolt lO which for illustrative purposes is of a double ended type, adapted toproject at either end beyond thecasing 11 so as to be, applicable to either a right hand or left hand door or closure for engagement with a catch or socket 12 as inclicatedin Figure 2, and which is adapted to be secured againstmovement ineither of its adjusted positions, is provided with a stud 18 extending through aguide slot 14: in the guide plate 15 for engagement bythe head 16 of a bolt actuating member 17 which is of the swinging or oscillatory type and consists essentially of an arm which is 't'ulcrumed or pivotally mounted at 18 by means of a spindle serving as the element by which the arm is actuated to move the bolt from one position to the other. The spindle 18 is secured against displacement at one end by the washer 4-1 and nut 42, while the other end is secured in the same manner by the washer l3 and nut 44;. The bolt actuating member 17 issecured to'the spindle by nuts 45 and 4:6, the nut 45 being threaded onto the end of the spindle. Then the actuating member is put in place and finally the nut 46 is tightened up against theaotuating member. In this manner the member 1'? is secured direct'to the spindle. v

The guide slot which is traversed by the stud of the bolt is provided with terminal notches 18 for forming seats for the said stud when the bolt is in either of its adjusted positions, so that when the bolt is projected and is at the limit of itsmovement in either direction it is locked against displacement longitudinally except after first moving the stud transversely with relation to the path of the bolt to disengage it from the terminal seat, and this transverse movement of. the stud is effected by means of a cam slot 1.9V in the head of the actuating member, said'slot having an intermediated V-shaped or arched portion to serve as a guide for the stud, and terminal offset portions 20 which serve to depress the stud into engagement with said terminal seat of the guide slot when the bolt reaches the limit of its movement in either direction.

The spindle is movable in either direction to actuate the bolt by means of a detachable key 21 and carries a disc 22 which is secured to spindle 18 and rotates therewith and is provided with peripheral notches or seats 23 .for engagement by tumblers 24 arranged in a concentric series for movement in a direction substantially parallel with the axis of the disc and hence of the spindle carrying said disc, said tumblers being provided with notches or seats 25 which are adapted for respective registration with or arrangement in the plane of the disc to permit the rotation of the latter and the passage of the teeth of the disc, as represented by the portions of the periphery thereof between the notches or seats, through said notches or seats of the tumblers, it being obvious that the release of the .disc for rotary movement necessitates the arrangement of all ofthe seat-s or notcheslof the several tumblers 1n the registered position relative to the plane will serve to lock the latter and hence prevent the movement or adjustment of the bolt. A'tumbler rest is provided comprising a fixed disk 26 through which the spindle 18 loosely passes, said disk having its outer edge bent forward at an obtuse angle to the plane of the body of the disk in order that the disk may be inserted into the casing and have its bent edge bite into the inner edge of the tumbler guide, hereinafter described, to form a base against the inner face of which th filling disk 39 may be placed on the spindle, the filling disk or block 39 serving to space the disk 26 from'the rotatable disk '22 to provide space for a finger which is formed on the tumbler when the notch 25 is cut, to get bet-ween the disks so that the tumbler may engage the disk 26; There is also provided a filling block or disk 38 against the outer face of the tumbler rest v disk 26, while a filling block 40 is positioned on the side of the tumbler disk oppositeto the side which is against the block 39.

The tumblers are yieldingly held in contact with a fixed rest 26 by means of springs 27 having coils 28 which engage a support ing ring 29 and the free ends of said springs are notched as shown at 30 for engagement with the rear end edges of the tumblers under such conditions as to normally hold the tumblers in the indicated position while permitting the disengagement of said springs to allow the tumblers respectively to be withdrawn from the guides 32 in which they are fitted, to effect a readjustment or interchange of the tumblers as may be required in the variation of the combination as hereinafter explained. The guides are formed by cutting grooves transversely of and on the inner periphery of a ring member 47. In their normal positions as held by their actuating springs certain of the tumblers are arranged with their seats or notches in registration with the disc to permit the free turning movement 'of the" latter, while other tumblers are normally and yieldingly held by their springswith" their seats or notches out of'registration with the disc, so that a special adjustment of the lastnamed tumblers ino'pposition to "thetendency of the actuating springs is nec- "fiessary in order to secure a registration of "the notches thereof necessary to permit the turning of the disc and hence the movement signed for the introduction of retaining ele- .ments 36 which are separate from the lock and are adapted to be placed by the'operator in manipulating the lock.

These retaining elements in the form illustrated in the drawings consist of plates corresponding in general'features with the tumblers and are adapted to be introduced through theopenings in, the face plate under such conditions as to adapt them to be used to repress the tumblers in opposition to their respective actuating springs, and are provided'with seats or notches 37 which may be engaged with the face plate by a quarter turn of theretainer after advancing'the latter to repress the tumbler, the extent of advance movement of the retainer necessary to permit engagement of its seat or notch with the face plate corresponding with the amount of movement rearwardly of those tumblers in which the seats or notches are normally out of alinement with the 'disc which is required in order to secure such alinement or registration, so that when the retainers are respectively inserted through the faceplate. into engagement with the nonregistering tumblers, and are advanced to adjust sucl'rtumblers su l'liciently to permit the locking of the retainers as above de. scribed, the normally non-registering tum" blers arebrought into such position with relation to the disc as to permit the rotation of the latter and'hence the operation'of the lockingbolt. ()bviously the insertionof a retainer into the lock in operative relation with one of th other tumblers (normally having its seat or notch in registration with the d.isc,) will cause the disalinement or non-registration of its notch or seat with relation to the disc and herce will lock the disc against rotation even though the i10rmally non-alignedtumblers have been properly adjusted. Thus in order to releasethe disc for rotation to permit ope'ration'of the spindle.

Inasmuch-as the tumblers! are freely interchangeable and inasmuch as there is no possibility of ascertaining which of the tum- ,blers of which the front ends are presented at the openings in the face plate is in alignment or, is out of alignment with thedisc or in other words which tumbler is in registration and which is out of registration and thus requires manipulation in order to release the disc, the combination representing the arrangement-of the non-registering tunr blers must be known in advance and the retainers must be inserted in the proper openings of the face plate in order to secure that adjustment of the elements of the lock which will permit the manipulation of the bolt. The tumblers are freely displaceable rearwardly from their guides upon disengaging the actuating springs thereof, by retracting and moving the free terminals of the latter to one side or the other as indicated in Figure 2/ The seats or notches of the tumblers that ar out of registration with the disks all differ just a fraction in size so that the proper retainer must press one certain tumbler to cause the correct operation of the disk and the retainers correspond with the respective tumblers.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

l. A lock having a bolt actuating spindle carrying a peripherally notched disc, a concentric series of tumblers movable in parallelism with the axis of the disc and provided with seats or notches for respective registration with the disc, springs respectively and detachably engaged with said tumblers for yieldingly holding them in their normal position, certain of the tumblers having their seats or notches normally out of registration with the. disc, and retaining means for respective engagement with the tumblers for repressing the same in opposition to their actuating springs to vary the positions of their seats or notches with relation to the plane of the disc.

2. A lock having a bolt actuating spindle carrying a peripherally notched disc, tumblers arranged in a series concentric with and movable perpendicular to the plane of the disc and having seats or notches for respective registration therewith, said tumblers being yieldingly held in their normal position, a face plate having openings giving access respectively to the extremities of said tumblers and retainers insertible through the openings in the face plate for engagement with and repression of the tumblers to secure registration of the seats or notches of the latter with said disc, the retainers having means for interlocking engagement with the face plate to secure the tumblers in their adjusted position. I

3. A lock having a sliding bolt, a stud movable with the bolt, a guide traversed by the stud and provided with terminal seats for the reception of the stud at the limit of movement of the bolt, an oscillatory actu ating member having a cam slot engaged with the stud and locking means for the said actuating member.

4. A lock having a sliding bolt, a stud movable with the bolt, a guide traversed by the stud and having terminal seats for the reception of the stud at t-helimit of movement of the bolt, an oscillatory actuating arm having a terminal head provided with a cam slot engaged with said stud, the slot having terminal off-sets for deflecting the stud into said terminal seats, and locking means for said actuating member.

5. A look having a bolt actuating spindle carrying a peripherally notched disk, a concentric series of tumblers movable in parallelism with the axis of the disk and provided with seats or notchesfor respective registration with the disk, springs formed of pieces of wire coiled and bent intermediate their lengths for engagement with the respective tumblers, for yieldingly holding them in their normal position, a ring member passing through the coils in the springs and forming a support for the springs, certain of the tumblers having their seats or notches normally out of registration with the disk, and retaining means for respective engagement with the tumblers for repressing the same in opposition to their actuating springs to vary the positions of their seats with relation to the plane of the disk.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LENARD EARL SHEETS. Witnesses:

E. D. SHEETS, CEOELIA E. SWEM. 

